Celebrating Double Digits

Since we are now celebrating double digits, we decided to move away from picking themes, and instead to celebrate with a fun experience. There was still plenty of decorations and presents and fun, but we wanted to mark this birthday a little differently. 

We woke the kids up with the usual excitement and celebration, this year with balloons and birthday shirts/socks. Aunt Lindsay made their shirts, which was extra special! We had breakfast at home, and then got to open gifts from family, which is also when they found out what their adventures for the day would be.

The sweet and thoughtful card from Aiden :)

Eli is still really big into LEGOs, and probably will be for awhile. He has had his eye on more "big kid" LEGO sets, so we have told him that he needed to start saving his money, asking for gift cards for birthdays and Christmas, etc. So we decided to take him back to the LEGO Discovery Center for a fun family morning building LEGOs. And then, of course, he got to pick out a bigger set in the store with some accumulated gift cards and money. The kid was in his happy place, and he was beyond excited to walk out of the LEGO store with a bag full of new LEGOs to build!

Maddie has asked for a few years about pierced ears, but we knew she would need to wait until she was older. We decided it would make the perfect marker for turning 10! We knew she was ready when I asked a few scouting questions to see if she was prepared for the actual piercing and she was totally nonchalant about the pain, citing her own encounters with chipping her tooth, falling on her face, and experiencing shots. She knew she could handle it, and we knew she was ready. Our sweet girl picked out beautiful white flowers, and when it came time for the actual piercing, she didn't even flinch. She was SO brave, and she couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day :)

We had a full day of adventures, but then it was time to head home for birthday cake! I let them each pick out their own cake flavor, and it worked out to make the number "10." For a double digit birthday, who wouldn't want to celebrate with double cake?? :)

The rest of the day was spent LEGO building, coloring, watching a movie, zooming with Granny and Grumpz, and enjoying a yummy French Toast dinner. 

It was such a fun and sweet day, celebrating our brand new 10 year olds!

Eli + Maddie :: 10 Years

Happy 10th Birthday, Eli and Maddie!

Last night we took a walk down memory lane to the day you were born. We talked about waiting for you, and Mommy's labor, and meeting you for the first time. How Eli was an only child for 31 minutes. How Daddy was left alone with 2 babies when all the doctors and nurses left the room and Mommy slept. And I was overwhelmed with the fact that it felt like a lifetime ago AND like it was just yesterday...

Ten. A whole decade. It felt like a lifetime while we were waiting for you, after all of the tears and prayers, and then suddenly, you both burst into our lives, and we were thrust into parenthood, not knowing what day it was, if we would ever sleep again, and so filled with joy, we could hardly stand it. Those first days of learning how to take care of the both of you were a blur, but they were still the BEST days. Or so we thought...because they days just kept getting better as you grew!

You both have filled our lives with so much joy and fun and life, and it is hard to believe that it has already been 10 whole years since we first met you both! You taught me what it means to be a mother; what it means to love and sacrifice and steward and nurture and train and disciple. I have had a front row seat to watch you both grow and it has been the absolute best thing. As I think back over the last 10 years, I am in awe of who you have become. How you have grown from those tiny babies into the mature young man and lady that you now are. It is such a joy to know you, your interests, and joys, and hearts. What a sweet gift to be your mom. Jesus is so kind and good.

I love you both so much, and I still refuse to let you grow up, my loves. But alas, here you are. Still growing. And I wouldn't miss any part of it.

Love, 

Mom

ELIJAH WINN

MADELINE GRACE

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Happy 10th Birthday, my loves! I'll just be over in the corner, wiping my tears, oh so proud of both of you. I love you both so much, and I can't wait for the next 10 years!

{iPhone Rewind} :: August

Haircut day with my girl :)

"Helping" Daddy get settled in his new office

I hope I always get sweet notes from my sweet boy {Aiden} 

Mike was able to get away on the pastor's retreat again this year. I'm so glad he is able to have this time with these guys.

Aiden was so excited to finally lose another tooth! We're not exactly sure where it went...he woke up one morning and it was gone haha.

We went to Sam's, and they had this skeleton "driving" around! The kids kept trying to figure out how it was possible haha

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! :)

Yay for $1 summer movies! We got to see Despicable Me 4

The kids got a fun coupon book from the library for completing their summer reading program. First up on their list of prizes: a free Italian ice from Rita's!

I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but it doesn't look good...

The boys have started helping make breakfast :)

Remnants of summer...

Flowers from my love :)

It's a panda bear!

After all of his hard work, this sweet boy has had to start patching again. To say that he was disappointed is an understatement, but he has dug in and had a fantastic attitude the past 3 months. He hasn't complained once, and I have not had to remind him once to patch. We had a follow up with the eye doctor, and his hard work has paid off! We're not out of the woods yet, but I am so, SO proud of this boy!

We're prepping for our fall Bible study!

A sweet church member heard that Aiden was having a Star Wars birthday and gave him a LEGO!

So grateful for how each of these ladies love and serve the women of CBC!

LEGOs and Chipmunks!

For Eli and Maddie's 9th birthday, we celebrated with LEGOs and chipmunks!

Their birthday fell on a Sunday, so while they got to wake up to their usual birthday excitement and decor, we had to push some of their celebration off until after church. But we tried to still make it special by celebrating with their friends in Sunday School. They got to hand out cupcakes and their friends sang Happy Birthday, as well as prayed a special birthday blessing over them. 

Amen. 

After church, we got to celebrate at home. Eli and Maddie opened presents, and there were lots of LEGOs for Eli, and chipmunks and Calico Critters for Maddie. 

They made cards for each other...

...and read them to each other :)

The afternoon was spent playing and creating and imagining, but they did also get to play outside in the beautiful weather. And of course, there were cupcakes and birthday singing!

We got to zoom with Granny and Grumpz, and there were messages from so many people that love Eli and Maddie. It was a fun and special day, and I pray that they always know how much they are loved and cared for. 

Happy 9th Birthday, Eli and Maddie!